The better-selling of the two, Yoplait Nouriche from General Mills (Minneapolis), accounted for $89 million in year-one sales to net the fifth spot on Information Resources Inc.'s (IRI, Chicago) top 10 New Product Pacesetters. Flavors include tropical, mixed berry, strawberry, strawberry banana, raspberry and peach, the latter four also available in light versions with 170 calories per bottle (as opposed to the roughly 290 calories per bottle of the regular varieties). Citing a survey of 1,500 women between the ages of 25 and 55, Yoplait finds 32% often skipping meals and, therefore, needing help to meet basic nutritional needs. Nouriche promises a “yogurt smoothie with the nourishment of a meal” by including 20 vitamins and minerals, plus protein, in addition to the live and active cultures common to all Yoplait products. Nouriche did not skimp on the added benefits, either. Each serving offers 25% of the Daily Value (DV) of 17 vitamins and minerals, 30% of the DV for calcium, 20% for protein (10g) and 22% for fiber (6g) in the form of inulin.

Nouriche faces direct competition from another top seller this year, namely Light 'n Fit Carb Control from Dannon (Allentown, Pa.), available as either a smoothie or in the yogurt section, albeit described there as a “cultured dairy snack” made with yogurt cultures and sweetened with sucralose. Among the ingredients in the “dairy snack” are water, skim milk, cream and whey protein concentrate.

The four flavors (Strawberries 'n Cream, Peaches 'n Cream, Raspberries 'n Cream, Vanilla Cream and Blueberries 'n Cream) contain 60 calories per serving, 3g of fat and 3g of carbohydrates. The initial two flavors (Berries 'n Cream and Strawberries 'n Cream) have 4g of carbs, 70 calories and 3g of fat. Combined, Light 'n Fit Carb Control tallied $75 million in year-one sales to capture the ninth spot in the list of 2004's top sellers.

Such a strong debut for the low-carbohydrate Light 'n Fit Carb Control is testament to the power of the carb-slashing diet in 2004, especially considering one of the product's chief competitors in the frozen food aisle garnered the most sales this year. As a matter of fact, CarbSmart (Huntington Beach, Calif.) is a brand found across supermarket aisles--be it CarbSmart pasta from Monterey Pasta (Salinas, Calif.) or Bayer's (Morristown, N.J.) One-A-Day CarbSmart range of multi-vitamins, which promise to break down fats and proteins into energy with more biotin and provide the essential nutrients needed when enduring a carb-restricted diet.

Get Smart

“The new light products meet the needs of the many consumers who are customizing their low-carb diets by cutting back on fat as well as carbs,” he explains. “According to our own research, 60% of carb-conscious consumers are seeking products lower in fat. These CarbSmart products are lower in fat than regular ice cream and indulgent-tasting.”

The initial launch had only two flavors--a Neapolitan mix of vanilla ice cream and chocolate and strawberry sorbets, and Vanilla & Chocolate (the Neapolitan sans the strawberry sorbet).

The mix of ice cream and sorbet has led to an intriguing nutritional facts panel, as the Good Humor-Breyers' website lists data for each separately. The vanilla ice cream is sugar-free and contains 130 calories per half-cup serving, as well as 9g of fat, 3g of fiber, 4g of protein and 9g of carbohydrates. Meanwhile, per half-cup serving, the chocolate sorbet has 4.5g of fat (4g in the strawberry sorbet), 2g of fiber (3g in the strawberry), 70 calories, 2g of protein and 9g of carbohydrates (the latter three are in the same amounts in the strawberry sorbet as well). With 6g of the carbs coming from sugar alcohols, CarbSmart touts the line as the nation's first zero net carb ice cream.

The product's total sales also benefited from a zero net carb version of Creamsicles in orange and mixed berry flavors, as well as CarbSmart Klondike frozen novelties in either vanilla or fudge forms. Those latter two, however, had 5g and 3g of net carbohydrates, respectively.

A similar effort to blend indulgence and more-healthful properties has proven a recipe for success in the frozen entrée case as well. Flavor Adventures, the new addition to ConAgra's (Omaha, Neb.) Healthy Choice range, feature ingredients not commonly found in frozen entrées, and a number of the line's extensions reflect the wide-reaching consumer demand for an ethnic flair in their mealtime options. While Cream Herb-roasted Chicken and Grilled Chicken Caesar may not sound cutting-edge, the line also includes such varieties as Beef Merlot, Chicken Margherita, Grilled Whiskey Steak, Grilled Chicken Marinara, Princess Chicken, Chicken Tuscany, Grilled Steak with Roasted Garlic Sauce, Roasted Chicken Chardonnay and Oriental Style Beef. Capitalizing on the success of an $80 million first year, the line has been augmented with four new entrées: Grilled Chicken Baja, chicken breast in a Southwestern-style sauce with rice and vegetables; Cajun Style Chicken and Shrimp, chicken breast and shrimp in a Cajun-style sauce with rice and vegetables; Roasted Chicken Marsala, chicken tenderloins in marsala wine sauce with penne pasta and vegetables; and Apple Glazed Pork Medallions.

As with other Healthy Choice lines, Flavor Adventures trims the fat, the Cajun Style Chicken and Shrimp registering the least fat in the line--3.5g. Chicken Tuscany and Oriental Style Beef share top honors for the most fat, each boasting 9g. In this year of constant carb countdown, the Flavor Adventures line is something of an exception, as the line ranged from a low of 23g in the Roasted Chicken Marsala to a high of 46g in several of the items.

The Healthy Choice products are not positioned solely along healthful lines, however. The line also serves as a convenience, a need which cannot be overstated considering the results of that aforementioned Yoplait Nouriche survey. Almost two-thirds (62%) do not eat breakfast; 36% opt for a fast food drive-through option when they do have a meal, leaving 48% who say they regularly or often (at least four times per week) make unhealthful eating choices. As evidenced by many of this year's top sellers, IRI attests, consumers seem perfectly willing to eat and drink more-healthful foods and beverages, if they do not have to sacrifice taste or convenience. Of course, that has been the goal for most developers. Actually meeting such stringent criteria has been the challenge.

Indulge Me

Looking to the future, the beverage category seems poised to command a sizeable portion of next year's bestsellers; however, there could be trouble on the horizon for the category. IRI foresees three new beverages in next year's top 10, yet some of the more-notable entries have not performed as well as might have been expected. While Coca-Cola has been a regular contributor to the bestselling list in recent years, the first-year performances of its major introductions have begun to lag. In 2002, Vanilla Coke topped the PaceSetters list with $207.6 million in sales, the same year that Diet Coke with Lemon accounted for $139.1 million in its first year. The following year saw the completion of Vanilla Coke's first full year of sales and brought the beverage to a full-year total of $292.1 million. Sprite Tropical Remix garnered $98.7 million in its first 40 weeks but, as this year's PaceSetters list shows, sales of the new Sprite faltered in the final 12 weeks of its first year, as the beverage managed full-year sales of $113 million. Diet Coke with Lime captured $119 million to wrest the third spot this year, just ahead of the remixed Sprite but, if IRI's forecast is to be believed, 2005 will be the first time in several years that a beverage does not crack the vaunted $100 million mark in its first year, and it will not even be close: Coke's C2 has been on the market for 32 weeks so far, and consumer response has been mixed at best. IRI projects the calorie- and sugar-reduced beverage will register $77 million in year-one sales, and Coca-Cola does not have another product forecast even to be in the top 10.

To be fair, the poor performance of new beverages is not a reflection exclusively upon Coca-Cola. PepsiCo and Dr Pepper/7Up (Plano, Texas) need to share some of the spotlight as well. Coke's C2 is expected to be the leading new beverage; its direct competition, Pepsi Edge, does not even project in the top 10, which is expected to include two other beverages--Diet Sierra Mist Free (PepsiCo), predicted to garner $57 million and the sixth spot, and 7Up Plus (Dr Pepper/7Up) in ninth with $44 million.

Sales Slip

Even excluding Wal-Mart, IRI shows over 850 new products hitting store shelves in 2004, from less than 750 in 2003, and a marked increase from the 547 introductions just two years ago. The past year has been one of the most active periods in recent history, a fact IRI attributes to manufacturers' increased attention to innovation to “drive growth in a slow-growth environment.”

The competition in such an active environment has grown fierce and, as a result, only 22% of new F&B products met IRI's $7.5 million sales criterion to be named New Product Pacesetters, a far cry from the 27% average historically. This does not include similar products within certain companies' own portfolios. Coke, for instance, has made tremendous efforts to reach the weight-conscious consumer looking for a soft drink; however, supermarket shelves boast no fewer than seven versions of the company's sugar- or calorie-reduced soft drink: Diet Coke, Caffeine-free Diet Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, Diet Coke with Lemon, Diet Coke with Lime, C2 and Diet Vanilla Coke. This summer, the number will jump to nine, with the launch of a sucralose-sweetened version of Diet Coke and the new Coke Zero, sweetened with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium. Will these latter two make their ways onto a future Pacesetter list? It is too early to say, but each faces a far more competitive field than any of its predecessors, even within the company's own portfolio.

Nonetheless, the propensity to extend a brand rather than create one fresh continues. This year, only 6% of all Pacesetters were new brands--less than half of the average over the past years and well off the high of 22% in 1997.

Sidebar: Capturing the Spirit

A Prepared Foods panel will review nominated products, judging each on the following criteria: